J. Michael Lennon, who is at work on an authorized biography of Norman Mailer, speaks with Sasha Weiss about Mailer's letters and what they reveal about his ambitions, his relationships with other writers, and his enduring obsessions.

Mark Danner talks to Hugh Eakin about the confidential International Committee of the Red Cross report on the CIA's secret prisons and reads excerpts from detainee Abu Zubaydah's firsthand account of torture.

Jonathan Raban speaks with Charles Petersen about Kelly Reichardt's film Wendy and Lucy and the stories of Jon Raymond, and about how these works illuminate—and are illuminated by—the socioeconomic realities of the Pacific Northwest.

Historian Orlando Figes speaks with Sasha Weiss about his latest book, The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia; the recent prosecutor's office raid on the Memorial Society, a human rights organization working to preserve memories and documentary evidence of Stalin's repression; and the dangers posed by resurgent Stalinism to the accurate telling of Russian history.

Economist and Nobel laureate Robert M. Solow speaks with Hugh Eakin about the causes of the current crisis, the importance of credit in the functioning of the world financial system, and how new regulation might prevent future disasters.

Novelist Tim Parks speaks with Andrew Palmer about Geoffrey Brock's new English translation of Carlo Collodi's children's classic Pinocchio, and the book's origins in the political and cultural tumult of 1880s Italy.

Christopher Ricks speaks with Giles Harvey about Posthumous Keats, Stanley Plumly's recent biography of John Keats, and about the poet's death and the idealized image that emerged during his "immediate afterlife.

Ahmed Rashid speaks with Hugh Eakin about the continuing conflict between the Pakistani government and the Taliban, the humanitarian crisis in Swat, and the violence that has spread from the border with Afghanistan to within sixty miles of the capital, Islamabad.

Nicholas Kristof speaks with Sasha Weiss about his experiences reporting in Darfur, the International Criminal Court's indictment of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir on counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and what the Obama administration can do to prevent further escalation of the conflict.

David Cole talks to Michael Shae about the history of the legal battle over same-sex marriage, the changing demographics that favor nationwide support, and the legal and political tactics advocates and activists might use to ensure a just future for the institution.